Humanverse

Vasco vs Vashon

American parents have registered 836 Vashons since 1880, against 523 Vascos. But in 2025 it was Vasco that was commoner, 14 babies to 5.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Vasco against Vashon, 1880 to 2025 0 40 80 120 160 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Vasco Vashon

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 92 years in which either name was published, Vasco for 47 years and Vashon for 45 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Vasco Vashon
Total US births 523836
Most in one year 18125
Babies in 2025 145
Estimated living today 260790
Median age today 1736
Peak year 19161973
Best rank 1,698th boys804th boys
Rank in 2025 6,143rd12,008th
First recorded 19101972
Girls / boys 0 / 52369 / 767

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Vashons alive today are over 36; half the Vascos are over 17. That is 19 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Vasco and Vashon.